Our Adventures in Potty Training

I've been meaning to write this post for a while now, but with my growing belly, things are slowing down.  I'm hoping to continue posting when I can (like right now when Naomi is sleeping), so bear with me as this new person grows 1/2 pound to 1 pound each week for the next 6 weeks!! Woohoo!! I'm so excited to have only 6 little weeks left!!

As you may remember from previous posts, Naomi has been accustomed to using the potty since she was barely 13 months old.  I know that may sound ridiculous to some, but at that stage in the game, I just had fun with it: wanting her to get familiar with the potty and what it is all about.  She took to it well from the very beginning, and we would laugh and sing songs as we flushed the potty and played with diapers.  I'd talk about being dry vs being wet so she would start to understand what was happening with her body.  This stage of becoming acquainted lasted for a while, of course (from around 13-14 months to 18 months old).

trying on mama's new shirt with her new training pants on. Feb 2012 - 21 months

I did not expect her to be fully trained anytime soon after that, and I think that it's best to just go with it - no matter how long it takes. She would even surprise us in the beginning by leading US to the potty with her - at 13 months old.  During a trip to the mountains when we just started working on elimination communication, Gramama couldn't believe it when Naomi awoke from a nap and led her by the hand to the potty - and actually used it!  We were both astonished at the time, but it all became part of the routine.  To me, it's more about training the parents and caregivers than it is training the child.  If I remembered to take her to the potty after waking, before getting in the car, 15-20 minutes after a drink, even when I would go the restroom, it all became second nature to her.  Our daily routine included trips to the bathroom - wherever we ended up that day - we always took her to the potty.  

showing us her handstand in her underwear after first day of gymnastics - Feb 2012

It certainly wasn't easy leaving storytime and taking a 17 month old to the potty before getting in the car, or allowing her to tell me "teetee" 3-4 different times while out and about, finding the closest bathrooms (I now know where every bathroom is in Savannah), sitting her up on the potty only for her to shake her head "no" at me.  It almost became manipulative at times - ok - definitely manipulative - because she realized quickly that I would let her out of the cart or stop what I was doing to take her. And I always did.  Even if I knew she was being manipulative, potty time is serious time!  It only takes once to cry wolf, ya know?  :)

22 months old at the lakehouse

This routine lasted for a long while, and as she got older (after 18 months old), we talked and read about it more and more often.  I added stamps, stickers & potty charts (charts didn't work too well) to our ample loads of positive reinforcement (high fives, songs, & praises), and we eventually got rid of diapers around that time except for at bedtime. She even wore big girl britches while out and about - just with plastic pants on top to limit the mess for mama (and to allow her to still FEEL wet). We had our fair share of accidents, but that goes with learning.  We all have a few accidents along the way (but with potty training, plastic pants help)! Ha.

Soon, and not too long ago, she let us know when she was ready, and it was during the week of her second birthday. It's almost like she knew that she was turning into "a big girl" since we had talked it up so about being two years old.  We took that trip to the lake, and she wanted nothing else to do with diapers and wanted nothing but her "big girl panties."  She genuinely gets excited about choosing which ones to wear from day to day, and I made sure to purchase different colors, patterns, and designs to keep her interested.  Her new favorites as of this week: purple. and anything princess. Gotta love this girl.

So, now we've got a potty-trained toddler and a new baby will be making his entrance within a couple of months!  I'm loving the fact that I will not have two in diapers!  And I'm so excited to start the diaper process all over again and this time with a boy!  I bet he'll be even easier to train - we'll just take him outside! :)

in big girl britches full time - week of 2nd birthday

Are you thinking about potty training or elimination communication for your little one?  Here are a few tips that may make it easier for you. Always keep in mind to "keep it simple" and "do what makes it easy."

1.  Make Pottytime a Part of Routine and Be Consistent - making bathroom time part of your young child's daily routine will help them develop a better understanding for what all this potty business (and the signs of their body) is all about!  Take them when you go, let them watch Dad, talk to them about it, and take them when you think they need to go. Be prepared to take them where ever you may be from day to day.  On a long car ride?  Stop at the rest stop.  Where ever YOU go, they should at least try to go too. 
2.  Use rewards - using rewards simply makes it more exciting for them.  Grab a book of 500 stickers from your local arts and crafts store (they're $1), and let them choose stickers after they go.  Stickers, animal stamps with different color washable ink, and singing silly songs really worked with Naomi.  I tried a potty chart (stickers or stamps on a chart), but it seemed to be over her head.  Keeping it simple and immediate works best.
3.  Pick out cute/fun underwear - training pants, panties, underwear - whatever you choose, keep them fun!  Naomi loves picking them out in the morning and helping me fold them and put them away.  Super Skivvies are my favorite - available online at superskivvies.biz This lady works out of her home and makes the cutest training pants, and the best thing about them?  When your child is potty trained, the extra absorber comes out and they are ready to be used as big kid britches!

our collection of the super cute superskivvies.

4.  Let them go diaperfree when you can - best time is at home when it's easiest to catch them and clean up messes.  They quickly learn what is happening with their bodies this way.
5.  Use plastic pants - They are inexpensive and are great at keeping messes IN while allowing child to still feel wet.  We use them at night now, but during the final stages of potty training, we wore them out and about.
 6.  Purchase a potty seat for over the toilet - For less than $10, we purchased Omi a small seat that fits over the regular pot.  She feels like a big girl using it, and in the beginning, I didn't have to worry about her falling in!  And to me, it's way better than cleaning a small, plastic potty over and over again. 
7.  Keep it fun!  Whatever you do, don't get angry during this time of learning.  Don't get pushy, and don't expect too much.  Kids will learn at the pace that they are comfortable with, and if you keep it fun and lighthearted, it will be for them too.  If you seem frustrated, then more often than not, they will be frustrated too.  So sing silly songs, offer praises constantly, give them books to read while on the potty, and when accidents happen, it's ok.  Talk about it for a few seconds ("oops! you are wet. doesn't it feel nice to be dry?" or, my favorite: "shoo-wee! that smells bad! your turn to smell it. yuck."), and move on. Seriously, that last one worked! And remember, there are many accidents in your future. That's just part of the process. 

Our First Trip to the ER

Last Monday morning started like any other, and I was sure to help it start out on a good foot too.  Beautiful skies, early breakfast, and (decaf) coffee made for me by my sweet husband were all the ingredients I needed to start a wonderful day and week.

We took the finger paint outside, Naomi created a few masterpieces while I tried to get the last coat on her "new" dresser (almost done), and after that, we pulled out the sprinkler in the backyard to wash off.  Naomi raced through the water showing only her shiney hiney. Cuteness overload.  And being the big helper she is, she volunteered  to water the flowers.  Always my helper.  And then the clouds moved in. And the thunder and lightening. Literally and figuratively. So much for watering the flowers!

As it got to be lunchtime, we moved inside and prepared the table.  Naomi, the big girl that she is, climbed up in her booster seat all by her big self just as she always does at mealtime.  And of course, here's where the story takes a turn for the worse.  Just as I turned around to grab a fork from the drawer, Naomi reached for the table, missed her grip, and fell to the floor - meanwhile, catching the edge of the table with her face on the way down.  I scooped her up and contained my fear as I grabbed the ice and a cool, damp rag to assess the damage. 

so brave while waiting to be seen at ER

yet still in a good humor through it all! maybe that's why we kept getting pushed back to be seen!

At first, it didn't look too bad.  Hardly any blood, and being the calm and collected mama that I am - ok, TRY to be on a daily basis - I wasn't going to run to the ER if we didn't have to.  I've pretty much adopted my mother's approach on that one.  If there isn't a bone protruding, continuous blood flow, or a temperature that lasts for days on end, I can handle it myself.  And although both baby girl and I were doing pretty good, it still looked like it could be looked at by a doctor. Hey, I'm no health professional after all. So off to Dr. Ramos' office we went. Thunderstorm and all.

 
I took her in to her primary physician for him to get a good look at it and give his professional opinion.  Much to my dismay (and hers), he said that because of where the laceration was on her face and the fact that she is a girl and it may scar, that we needed to have her stitched up by a plastic surgeon. Yikes.  So, off to the ER we went.  If only I had known then what I know now, I would've had a plastic surgeon called in to his office (yes, you can do that).  Instead, I thought it would be better to get to the hospital. And so off we went.

Deddy and Omi watching Elmo while the nurses prepped for procedure

Seven hours and two hospitals later, we were on our way home with a pitifully sleepy and worn out two year old.  The hardest part of the night (besides playing the waiting game) was watching the nurse knock our sweet girl out with Vicodin and Ketamine.  She became delirious after being given the meds, yet she could still hear us and would cry out for us during the procedure.  We constantly talked to her and soothed her as much as we could through the process, and she was a brave youngin' to put up with being picked and prodded with all night long. 

so very hard to see your little one like this!

waiting for sleeping beauty to wake up

Now, a little over a week later, she is healing up nicely and the sutures have almost all dissolved, leaving a small pink line across the crease of her eyelid - barely visible.  We are so lucky that it was not any more worse than it was and many thanks go out to the wonderful Dr. Ramos for making the tough call for stitches.  If it weren't for his recommendation, she may have ended up with larger scarring, so for him, we are thankful!

groggily waking up...

Naomi is a tough little cookie who took a hard fall, and our little daredevil hasn't slowed down since.  We have had to make her slow down and take it easy while healing, yet she wants to constantly climb up on everything - tables, shelves, bookcases, display tables in stores - heh.  She is definitely our little firecracker.  Here's to hoping baby number two isn't so adventurous...HA! :)

the nurse took a family photo - Naomi is drunkenly saying, "Cheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeese." Hysterical. This one's for the baby book!